Dear Bureaucrat, Is a government job worth getting?

Dear Bureaucrat,

Is it worth the hassle to apply for government jobs? I used to think working in government would be a way to do good in the world, have financial security, and get ahead. But the news is full of government doing terrible things, and people quitting so they won’t have to do terrible things, or being reassigned to force them to quit. I see people on social media bragging about how exciting their government jobs are, but nobody I know personally feels that way. Should I even bother trying to get in?

Signed,
Not Winston Smith

Dear Not Winston,

There is an old image of what a government career can be: join an agency whose mission you believe in, get trained and advance within the agency, maybe to a top job, and retire with a pension and pride in a job well done. Even in the heyday of the civil service, most careers fell short of that ideal. But now it is even less realistic.